On the Home Front
by Medie Shanachie
Summary: What did the people left on Atlantis do while Sheppard and Co were on the Daedalus? Tag for Daedalus Variations


_Author's Note: Obviously they only have 43 minutes to do each episode so therefore things will get left out, but I thought it might be interesting to consider what the rest of Atlantis was doing while Sheppard and company were playing around in the alternate universes. So this was my idea. Standard disclaimer on everything recognizable from the actual episode. Aiden and the boys belong to me. Episode written by Alan McCullough and directed by Andy Mikita. Transcript by Callie Sullivan for Episode 504: The Daedalus Variations_

_Obviously major spoilers for the Daedalus Variations. I can't think of any other spoilers._

* * *

"Colonel Sheppard, do you read? _Daedalus_, this is Atlantis, please respond." Lorne turned back to Radek in confusion. "What the hell's going on?"

Radek was rapidly scanning the screens in front of him. "I don't know. One moment they were there and the next they were gone."

Lorne pointed at the scanners. "Find them," he ordered, before glancing up at the office Woolsey now occupied. It used to be that even on second shift he would see Doctor Weir up there, and even Colonel Carter had the habit of working late into the night, but Woolsey would put in a strict eight hours and then retreat to his quarters unless there was an emergency or a briefing. From a military standpoint, Lorne appreciated the less hands on method, but despite Woolsey yanking Sheppard's chain, at times like these they could do with a better idea of who was in charge of certain aspects. If this was a military issue, as 2IC it was his problem, but since command of the base still technically rested in both Woolsey and Sheppard's hands; it might actually be an IOA issue. And how exactly did he send a SAR team to nowhere?

He was just raising his hand, intending to notify Woolsey of the situation, and tell the man that he was handling it when Aiden entered the control room. He did a double-take at the sight of the bundle in her arms and then realized what, or rather who, she held. "Why do you have Torren?" he asked, quickly crossing over to her and steering her out of the main thoroughfare.

Aiden frowned at him. "I do know what to do with a baby, Evan."

He shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that. Look that came out wrong. It was more do you have him and not Kanaan?" He glanced at Radek who was shaking his head and shrugging. "Look we have a situation," he told her, lowering his voice.

"Oookay," Aiden replied slowly. "I have Torren because Kanaan went to the mainland today with Doctor Keller to see the others there. I was visiting with Teyla when John called her to gear up so I offered to watch him."

"Shit," Lorne responded causing Aiden to giggle. "What?" he asked irritably.

"I must be rubbing off on you," she pointed out. "You're swearing."

He glared at her. "Not funny. When did Teyla expect him back?"

She looked up at him sheepishly. "I said I'd keep him for the night."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. As cute as you look with the baby, I need you available. Especially if Radek's gotta go digging through the database. Do me a favor and send MacFadden and the boys to the mainland to get Keller and Kanaan. Then if you can handle the baby and helping Radek until they get back…"

She nodded. "Not a problem. Just one question."

"What?" he replied.

"What's the situation?"

He winced as he realized he had gotten distracted by the baby and forgotten to fill her in. Quickly he summed up what had happened. "The _Daedalus_ appeared in orbit. No hyperspace window, no explanation, no nothing. Sheppard and company went up to check it out after McKay didn't get any life signs. About ten minutes ago the whole ship vanished."

"All right that's just not normal," she said and when he just looked at her, she rephrased, "Okay, I realize _normal_ is relative, but…you know what I mean." She shifted Torren. "So call the boys, send them for Kanaan, and then help Radek. Anything else?"

"No. Not right now. I'm going to call Woolsey."

She grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck with that."

"Gee thanks." He watched her walk around the consoles to stand next to Radek, having a moment to think how natural she looked with the baby resting in her arms, before tuning them out as they immediately began to speak in Czech. Reaching up, he triggered his radio, preparing to do his least favorite part of his job, "Mr. Woolsey, its Major Lorne."

"Yes, Major, what's the emergency?" Woolsey responded instantly. Succinctly Lorne reported what had happened and what they were currently doing to locate Sheppard and the others. As he spoke, he reviewed his actions and decided there wasn't anything he would have done differently. He finished by explaining he had authorized his Marines to go and retrieve Doctor Keller and Kanaan from the mainland. "Continue on, Major," Woolsey instructed when he was done with his SitRep. "I'll be in the Control Room soon."

"Yes, sir." Lorne clicked off his radio and started to skirt the lower level of the control room so he could come up behind the bickering scientists. At least he thought they were arguing; it was rather hard to discern that sometimes with Czech. Radek was stabbing at something on the screen and jabbering. "So did you find the _Daedalus_?" Lorne asked, peering over Aiden's shoulder. He knew enough to get the gist of the screens and it didn't look good.

"No. No. No. Is not our _Daedalus_," Radek broke into English, obviously in the middle of the conversation.

"Yeah, we established that already, Doc. What I meant was did you find the _Daedalus_ that has our people?" Lorne rephrased his question.

Aiden started to reach for something and realized her hands were full of Torren. Turning, she held him out to Lorne. "Here. Hold him for a minute," she ordered.

Before he quite knew what was happening, Lorne found the baby transferred to his arms. He took him, juggling him in surprise, then looked down into wide brown eyes. "Hey, little man," he said softly as the baby scrunched up his face. "Hey, now, don't cry. We're gonna find your mama." He jostled the baby like he remembered seeing his sister do with her boys and like Teyla did and asked, "What did you find?"

Hands now free, Aiden called up two different schematics. Pointing to one, she explained, "Readings from our _Daedalus_ when it was here about three weeks ago. And this one," she pointed to the second set of readings, "is the ship from today."

Lorne looked them over. "They aren't even close. I mean ship-wise the dimensions are the same, but the materials are completely different as are the energy readings."

Radek nodded. "Is correct."

Aiden had turned aside to one of the other computers and called up something else. She was scanning through it, too quickly for Lorne to follow with his limited Ancient. He waited until she had stopped the motion to nudge her, asking, "What do you have?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. A hunch that didn't pan out."

All three turned as Woolsey entered the control room. Lorne quickly passed Torren back to Aiden who cooed at the baby. "Nothing yet, sir," Lorne reported.

"Well, all right, then." Woolsey looked around as if not sure what he should be doing. His eyes settled on the baby. "What is he doing here?"

"Just waiting for me, Mr. Woolsey," Kanaan said, entering from the other side with Lorne's Marines on his heels. Aiden handed the baby over with a smile. "I was on the mainland," the man explained.

"Ah, yes, well in the future perhaps we could keep the baby out of the control room unless he's traveling somewhere," Woolsey replied.

Kanaan inclined his head. "Of course." Turning, he said something in Athosian to Aiden who replied in kind with another smile.

"What? What was that?" Woolsey demanded.

Aiden tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "He simply thanked me for looking after Torren, Mr. Woolsey. I think he finds comfort in another who can speak his language."

Lorne motioned for Kanaan to take the baby and leave. "We're working on finding the ship," he said.

Woolsey nodded. "Major, take your team and the doctor out to the last position of the ship in a puddle jumper and see what you can discover."

Lorne looked around the control room where three people answering to doctor stood. "Um, which one?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'which one'?" Woolsey demanded.

"Zelenka, Keller, and Aiden all answer to 'doctor', Mr. Woolsey. Which one do you want me to take with me?" Lorne responded.

"Doctor Bancroft is part of your team so it's your decision if you take her, but I was requesting you take Doctor Keller in case Colonel Sheppard's team needs medical attention," Woolsey explained.

Lorne nodded. "We'll head out then. Doc, can you give Aiden the coordinates of where the _Daedalus_ was last positioned?"

A few minutes later, he had the coordinates and had gathered his team up and was headed for the jumper bay. MacFadden and Deke were quietly teasing Aiden about having Torren when they entered the control room. She took the teasing in stride, answering back with some comments of her own. He ignored it, as only long practice had taught him. They were all good natured about it and didn't mean anything by it. Keller seemed unnerved by their by-play. He smiled at the medical doctor reassuringly. "They aren't being mean," he assured her.

"It just seems a bit evil," she replied.

"You don't have any siblings, do you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I'm an only child."

"Deke and Mac tend to treat Aiden like a little sister. She doesn't seem to mind and since she has five older brothers, I would imagine she's used to it." He keyed the jumper open and stepped inside, making his way to the pilot's seat as the rest of the team scattered their way through the ship. Aiden made her way up to the co-pilot's seat after dropping her pack. He glanced over at her as he began to power the ship up. "Wanna punch the site in?" he asked.

Aiden's fingers danced over the controls he had brought up for her and a moment later a set of coordinates appeared in front of him. Triggering the radio, he said, "Control room, this is Jumper One. We're good to go."

Woolsey's voice answered him a moment later, "Jumper one, you are free to proceed."

"Copy that, Control." Lorne glanced behind him to double check that everyone was settled, then smoothly lifted the jumper from the floor. He had to admit there was a certain poetry in flying a jumper. It responded faster and smoother than any plane or chopper he had ever had the opportunity to pilot. Now he settled back as they pulled up and away from the city and headed towards space. "Anything from their last known position?" he asked.

Aiden shook her head. "There's nothing there."

"All right. Coming about." He guided the jumper into an arc and headed for the coordinates Aiden had given him. A few minutes later, he brought them to a hover where the _Daedalus_ had been. The Marines came forward and then ducked back after taking a look around. "Oookay," he said slowly as they all peered out at the empty space. "Obviously they aren't here anymore."

Aiden stood up, letting Deke slide into her position and then moving to stand behind Lorne so she could still see out the front window. The computer man began to manipulate the controls, sending the sensors out farther than she had. After a moment, he said, "I got nothing, boss. There's no sign of them."

Lorne nodded and reached for the radio. "Atlantis, this is Jumper One. We're at the last known position of _Daedalus_ and there's no sign of them."

"Return to Atlantis then," Woolsey replied.

"Yes, sir," Lorne answered and began to head back to the city.

* * *

Only Aiden accompanied Lorne back to the control room. When they both entered Woolsey was waiting for them. "There was no sign of them?" he asked.

Lorne shook his head. "No sign of the ship or any of our people. It's like they vanished into thin air."

Aiden had already re-joined Radek at the computers, but they didn't seem to be making any progress. After a moment, she shook her head. "Nothing." She dropped into the chair. "I don't know what to tell you, Evan, but there's no sign of either the _Daedalus_ or our people."

"Is there anything else we can do?" Woolsey asked.

Radek shook his head, confirming what Aiden had already said. "Not at the moment. Until we get a contact, we can do nothing until the ship returns."

"I'm going to return to my quarters then. Please keep me informed of the status," Woolsey said, then turned and left the control room.

The remaining senior staff exchanged glances after he left. "Well, that was interesting," Aiden commented.

"It's not like he could do anything," Lorne responded. "And there's not much you can do either. You've already put in a full shift. Why don't you head down to our quarters and get some sleep? I'll call you if we need you."

Aiden finished what she was doing on the computers and turned them over to Radek before standing up. "What about you?"

"I'm on second shift this week," he replied. "I'll be fine." He accepted her kiss and motioned her on her way. "We'll call if and when we get anything."

Once she was gone, Lorne turned to Radek and Chuck. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"I have long range scanners looking for the _Daedalus_, but at this point, I think you are right...it is a waiting game," Radek replied.

Lorne looked out the windows, as if he could conjure up the sight of the ship coming in to the pier. "I joined the military so I wouldn't have to sit around and wait for scientists all the time," he complained.


End file.
